In software development, blue-green topologies are used to smoothly transition between a first software version and a second software version. A system may run, in parallel, two servers or server clusters, one of which is denoted “blue” and actively runs an already released and stable version of software, and the other of which is denoted “green” and runs a test or development version of the software. A router or load balancer may direct all incoming end user requests to the blue system, and all developer or tester requests to the green system. When the new version of the software on the green system is ready, any databases on the blue system may be cloned to the green system, and the router may begin to direct all traffic to the green system. Accordingly, there is no downtime, as the blue system is not taken down for maintenance until the green system's functioning is confirmed. If bugs are detected with the green release, the router may be used to again seamlessly transition back to the blue system while the green system undergoes further development.
In many fields, business process management (BPM) software is used to track a number of parameters related to a task or project as it goes through stages or iterations towards completion. For example, BPM software may be used to track the confirmation of a bug report and fixing of the bug in software development, to track the status of an automobile at a mechanic through various procedures or checkups, to track the completion of a service request made to a customer service department, to track the conversion of a sales lead into an active customer by a sales team, etc.
Application of existing blue-green transition methods to transfer to a new version of BPM software will typically lead to a variety of errors related to version incompatibilities, changes in data structures, changes in application programming interfaces (APIs), and artifacts of data serialization and deserialization, rendering the software incapable of being used to complete already-begun tasks.